The latest?
Incredibowl m420 (mini) and attachments.What is it, dude? The miniature version of the Incredibowl i420 and various pipe bodies. It's basically the Transformers of pipes without the laser-beam sound effects.I know I'm not the only one who -- in a strange way -- fondly remembers the Fimo-wrapped aluminum pipes that screwed together and created "marinating chambers" that you could stick a bud in to get coated in resin over time. As bunk as they are in retrospect, those metal pipes were cool as hell, because you could Lego yourself a unique Sherlock or a super-long pipe or a super small one-hitter just by adding or removing parts. Looking back, it's easy to see that pipes were awful because they were made entirely of metal. But the interchangeable nature of them? That was some rad stuff.How much coin will it run me? The base Incredibowl m420 will run you somewhere in the range of $50 to $60. The quick-pull trigger will run you $20, glass replacement tubes sell for $30, extension straight tubes are around $27, bubblers $80 and the Sherlock for $60.
Where can I get one? I could tell you, but it's easier to go to the Incredibowl website. Or you could order one online from www.incredibowlstore.com.
I hadn't really though much on those old pipes in recent years -- at least not until the Stoner MacGyvers at the Incredibowl factory in Boulder put together a package of interchangeable parts for the miniature version of their original i420 pipe (which we reviewed a few weeks back).
The m420 itself is the spring-loaded gold-and-black piece pictured above that can be moved around onto the different pipe bodies Incredibowl produces. It works the same as the i420, with a spring-loaded carb that jet-blasts clean air through the pipe, only it's about one-quarter the size of the original. Fitted in the stock four-inch, high-quality plastic tube, it's about as portable as a standard spoon pipe and way more durable.
It has to be said that for all the money you'd spend on the following attachments, you could get separate blown glass pipes to accomplish the same thing. There's not really any argument to that. But if you're a fan of the spring-loaded Incredibowl design, these attachments are worth considering.
For this week's Completely Unscientific test, we ground up a few grams of herb and packed bowl after bowl in the m420 to find out the differences and highlights of each different variation.
Page down for photos and reviews of the m420 attachments. Trigger pull: $20 This simple little bent tab of aluminum fits between the rubber lip on the top of the pipe body and the curved bottom of the metal bowl. When pulled on like a trigger, the lever action lifts the bowl up and clears the pipe. It's a bit excessive at $20, but it does free up your lighter hand from having to pull out the bowl when you're ready to carb the hit. And I can't deny how functional it really was, and how used to it I became in a short amount of time. Glass replacement stock tube: $30 Basically, this was made for all the haters who complained about the Incredibowl not having a glass chamber. Sure, there are still metal parts of the spring-loaded carb and filter screen, but that aside, this makes the m420 a true glass pipe when you factor in the glass bowl. It's a great idea and one that people had been asking about since the Incredibowl first hit the shelves a few years ago. No doubt this makes a huge difference to some people. But I'm not one of them and it mostly sat on my desk unused until I realized it makes a great replacement for a bottleneck guitar slide. On the plus side, the one-eighth-inch-thick tube is pretty sound. I wouldn't go dropping it onto pavement or anything, but it'll survive a few wood-floor drops or dog-tail smacks just fine. XL tube: $27 Nothing more than an extension of the clear plexiglass tube that comes with the stock m420, the XL tube simply adds six additional inches of smoke volume to your hits. Compared to spoon pipe-like hits from the four-inch tube, the longer XL feels more like a bong hit thanks to the larger smoke volume and allows for expansion room, which seems to bring out more of the herb's flavor. An inexpensive way to increase the versatility of the piece, and best of all, it won't break if you drop it. Bubbler: $80 Before this bubbler idea came out, I was putting the m420 plastic tube over the 14mm downstem of my bong and using it as a bowl now and then. The way the pipe rushes air through the spring-loaded carb force-injected the smoke and made the bong way more useful than it was before. Needless to say, I was pumped too see an Incredibowl-specific bubbs come out. The tube at the top is perfectly fitted for the m420, which pops on and off in seconds. The little bubbler chirps like the exhaust on a VW beetle when drawn on and hits like a champ, delivering the perfect amount of smoke when cleared. The wide-open hole at the top where the m420 piece sits makes cleaning the pipe a breeze. But there are downsides. While the screen at the bottom of the m420 injection tube keeps the water from getting nasty too quickly, the low water volume does brown out after only a few bowls. Small water volume like this is good for oil, but it gets dirty too quickly when smoking flowers. A larger reservoir at the bottom would greatly increase the usability of this thing and the design could also be re-tooled to have the mouthpiece connect with the body of the pipe at a higher spot to avoid sucking water up the straw-like tube. Glass design is easy enough to change, though, and I wouldn't doubt if their R&D team is already on that. Sherlock attachment: $60 Simple, effective and ergonomic: There's not much else that needs to be said about this attachment. The Sherlock quickly became my favorite attachment for the m420 for how much it improved the smoking experience. It balances perfectly in your hands and places the m420 bowl at a much better location for lighting than the original straight tubes do, making it much more approachable for first-time users. Not that the original steamroller tube is hard to use, but it takes a few tries to get the kinetics of the thing down.The Sherlock Tube tapers well, allowing for a small bubble of smoke to develop below the m420 bowl in the curve of the pipe that is delivered with a rush when the spring-loaded carb is pulled. Like the bubbler, the wide-open mouth of the pipe without the bowl in it makes for extremely easy cleaning and the glass is blown thick and durable. If you're going to get one add-on for the Incredibowl m420, this is the one.
We can't guarantee all products sent in will be reviewed here at Stoner MacGyver, but if you've got something you think is the greatest invention since sliced pot-bread, send us an e-mail at [email protected].